1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dental practices and particularly to an instrument that aids in the proper locations for implants such as posts. The present invention implant locator instrument also aids in fixing a chosen location and in creating a started hole for subsequent drilling. Thus, the present invention device enables a practitioner to find a good location for an implant, to mark the situs, and to start the hole with a single instrument.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
The following prior art is representative of the state of the art in the general field of dental drilling and implanting:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,777 describes a surgical template and method for drilling osteotomies (e.g., holes in a jawbone) and installing one or more dental implants using a surgical template assembly. The surgical template assembly is provided with one or more drill guides and one or more dental implant guides. The guides are positioned in the surgical template assembly by a computer-driven milling machine interfaced with a computer-generated image of a patient's jawbone and a computer generated simulation of at least one dental implant so that when the surgical template is placed in the patient's mouth the trajectory of the guides in the surgical template into the patient's jawbone corresponds to a trajectory of the computer-generated simulation of the dental implant into the computer-generated image of the patient's jawbone. Preferably, three fiducial markers, provide positional coordination between the CT scan data, the computer-generated simulation of the dental implant, and the computer-driven milling machine.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,876,204 describes a dental positioning guide that has two pins connected to a hub section. The pins may be rotated to a plurality of angular positions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,859 describes a method and indicating device for determining a location of a hole to be used as an attachment point for fixture or fixture part on an area of the human body are disclosed. The indicating device comprises a bearing part which is adapted to be received in an existing hole and a protruding part interconnected with the bearing part and extending above the existing hole when the bearing part is inserted into the existing hole. At least one indication part is interconnected with the protruding part and has a free end extending away from the existing hole, where a location of the new hole to be used as an attachment point is established at a position substantially adjacent to an exterior surface of the free end of the indicating part.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,986 describes a drill guide system for use in the installation of dental implants. The guides are configured in the shape of teeth and have drill brushings passing through to guide and position the drill so that the resulting hole will receive an implant that is properly positioned and aligned. The guides are provided in different configurations depending on the number of adjacent implants to be installed and have a depending pin to position the guide in initial drilled hole. By being configured in the shape of teeth, the dental surgeon is able to position the guide prior to drilling and be able to observe how the resulting work will appear once the actual prosthetics are installed on the implants. The drill bushings not only guide the drill but provide additional patient security since the possibility of slippage or breakage of the drill bit during the drilling is substantially reduced.
Notwithstanding the prior art, the present invention is neither taught nor rendered obvious thereby.